Simmilitude
by Ishasuki Mitochi
Summary: Kaien felt the bitter pain twice over, because Zero was just like him, but ignorant, and Yuuki was exactly like her mother. One-sided CrossXJuuri, ZeroXYuuki, reciprocated JuuriXHaruka, and KanameXYuuki.


It hadn't taken long for Kaien to notice the similarities. Yuuki was very like her mother, and not just in appearance, though that was certainly something to think about. The five-year-old's long hair and soft-featured face was impossible to look at without seeing Juuri, though a hint of Haruka existed in her big, gentle eyes. And then- perhaps not, he would think to himself. Juuri occasionally donned the that gentle expression, _(she learned it from Haruka)_, and her eyes had not been small. Stop that, he would say to himself. She's as much Haruka's as Juuri's and you know it. He could see Haruka when she smiled at younger children or petted a small animal. When she was tired and quiet and still, something in the way she moved and the way she spoke that was so much Haruka he had to leave the room to hit something. But he would come back and focus on how much she looked like Juuri, and then it was easier. When she was older and quirky, or stubborn, he could even hear Juuri's perfect voice, laughing or whining playfully, even, rarely, yelling.

When Kaname came to visit her, he usually left them alone, telling himself he was giving them space or privacy, but the truth was he felt uncomfortable watching the two interact. _(Kaname is like Haruka. He will take her away from me.)_ Sometimes he had to remind himself that he was looking at Juuri's children, not Juuri and her husband. There were better times, though. By the time Yuuki was eight, he never slipped, never found himself thinking of Juuri when she spoke or laughed. Yuuki was her own person, and he started to genuinely think of her as his daughter. But that brought him a new pain. Every time she called him father, he wondered- what if? What if she really had been his? _(Fool. Juuri never loved you that way.)_ He felt a pang when he called her his cute daughter, but it was better than seeing Juuri. He needed to remind himself of who she was once in a while.

Then Zero came, and Kaien though it was like looking at himself. He had been like that- so closed off, so talented and yet so isolated. And by the time he met Juuri, he'd been broken, but she had healed him. Now Yuuki was healing Zero, and Kaien felt an intense desire to see it happen. Juuri had never loved him, but if Yuuki loved Zero, it would almost heal his own broken heart. But then... Juuri would have wanted Yuuki to be with Kaname, and there was no doubt she would be safer with him, but still... _(Yuuki is not Juuri. You knew that. When did you start forgetting?) _She will make her own choice, he told himself. I will not interfere.

But it had been so painful, watching Yuuki smile and greet Kaname every day, almost as painful as it had been when Haruka used to interrupt their school-planning conversations with his return home and kiss Juuri right there in front of him, and it was impossible to look away. He saw the same pain in Zero's eyes, and he noticed that Zero never looked away, either. _(So powerful, and yet so powerless.) _But Zero had ignorance on his side, while Kaien never had. First, he had his own ignorance, which left him free to snatch Kaname's hand away when the pureblood would pat Yuuki on the head, while Kaien had always had to suffer in silence and wait. Zero didn't know about the Kuran children's relationship, so he was free to try to stop it. But Juuri had already been married for hundreds of years when Kaien first met her. He had always known she was unattainable, and he'd _always_ felt that pain. But more powerful and potent than his own ignorance, was Yuuki's. Yuuki distanced herself from Kaname because of that ignorance. She didn't know, didn't understand and that was what really changed their positions.

When he knew he was alone, he let bitter tears fall.

In the end, however much Yuuki loved Zero, she would always love Kaname more, and Zero would be alone. But maybe he could babysit their children.


End file.
